Wearing-apparel.



l L. L. INMAN.

WERING APIAREL.

APPLICATION FILED AUGZO. I915.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I /LvIrIIIII Avi..

L. L. INMAN.

WEARING APPAREL.

APPLICATION FILED Ammo. 191.5.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WMe-Wm. 1 222222:

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UNITED STATES PA i FFICE.

LEVERETT L. INMAN, 0F BEACON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD T0 WILLIAMJ. CONKLIN, 0F FISHKILL, NEW YORK.

WEABING-APPAREL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

Application filed August 20, 1915. Serial No. 46,549.

T 0 all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnvnnn'rr L. NMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Beacon, in the county of Dutchess and Sta-te of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VVearing-Apparel,of which the followingr is a specilication.

This invention relates to wearing apparel and more particularly to animprovement in coats and has as its primary object to provide a coatwhich will be more comfortable to the wearer than the ordinary coat andwhich will allow greater freedom of movement of the arms and shouldersthan is possible when the ordinary coat is worn.

The coat embodying the present invention is so made that it may expandto allow for free movement of the arms and shoulders and is, therefore,particularly well suited for wear by those engaged in athletic sportsand, in fact, by any one desiring a garment of this nature neat inappearance and normally more or less close fitting and yet capable ofallowing great' freedom of movement of the body.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a coat of the character abovementioned so made that when the wearer is standing or. sitting erect thecoat will neatly and properly fit the body and yet when the arms areraised or moved forwardly the back of the coat will be permitted toexpand so that freedom of movement will not be interfered with.

Tncidentally, the invention aims to so construct the coat that the samewill with certainty resume its normal form and hang when the arms orshoulders are in the position they naturally assume when the wearer isstan-Ting or sitting erect.

ln the drawings: Figure l is a perspective view illustrating anembodiment of the present invention and illustrating furthermore, themanner in which the back and sleeves of the coat may expand. Fig. 2 isasimilar view illustrating the normal appearance of the coat. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal sectional view through a portion of the back of the coatillustrating the back plaits in normal position. Fig. 4: is a similarview illustrating the plaits partly opened to permit of expansion of theback of the coat. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating aslight modification of the invention Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4:illustrating the plaits opened.

Corresponding and like `parts are referred to 1n the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Tn the drawings, the numeral l indicates the back of the coat, thenumeral 2 the usual back seam, and the numeral 3 one of the shoulderseams.

The sleeve of the coat is indicated by the numeral i and the sleeveseams by the numeral 5, these seams and the seams 2 and 3 being locatedthe same as in the ordinary coat. y

ln order that the coat may be permitted to expand in the mannerheretofore mentionedso that freedom of movement of the arms andshoulders of the wearer will not be interfered with, plaits are formedin the back of the coat at opposite sides of the back seam and similarplaits are formed in the inner half or section of each sleeve of thecoat between the arm pit -and elbow. As the plaits in both instances areformed and stitched in the same manner a description of the plaits inthe back will suffice.

The manner of forming the plaits is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, which figure is a horizontal section taken through one side ofthe back of the coat, In carrying out the invention the material of thebaclrl of the coat and also the material of the inner section of eachsleeve, is folded to form plaits indicated by the numeral 6, and theplaits are stitched along lines parallel to the folds which result intheir formation as indicated by the numerals 7 and 8. The lines ofstitching 7 are located adjacent the juncture of the plaits with thebody of the material in which they are formed and the lines of stitching8 are located adjacent and parallel to the outer or free edges of theplaits, the said lines of stitching 7 passing through the inner pliesonly of the plaits and through the said body of the cloth. In theinstance of the plaits which are formed in the back of the coat the sameare arranged in a substantially vertically extending series at each sideof the outer edges are stitched to the body of the material ofthe back,or, if desired, the plaits may terminate at their lower endssubstantially at the waistline and the body of the material may be plainbelow this point.

It will be understood that any desired number of plaits may be providedat each side of the buck seam 2 and that they may be arranged nearer theback seam than illustrated in the drawings or nearer the arm openings ofthe coat if desired. In the instance of the plaits which are formed inthe inner sections or halves of the coat sleeves, these plaits terminateat the usual sleeve seams 5 and extend transversely of the said innersections or halves as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

It will now be understood that when the wearer of the coat raises hisarms or moves them forwardly or, in fact, makes any other movement whichin the use by the wearer of the ordinary coat would be more or lessinterfered with, the plaits in the back or in the sleeves, or in boththe back and sleeves, will open in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4 ofthe drawings, thereby permitting the garment to expand in such manner asto insure against interference with freedom of motion. Due to theprovision of the lines of stitching 7 and 8 the plaits are not permittedto fully open as will be readily understood and, therefore, the foldsresulting in the plaits will not be liable to be broken down in thewearing of the garment and as a result when the body assumes an uprightstanding or sitting position the plaits will close or resume theirnormal shape as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings and this they would notbe liable to do if it were not for the provision of the said lines ofstitching 7 and 8.

While I have found by actual eX lerience that plaits formed in themanner slliown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings will close withcertainty when the body assumes an erect standing or sitting position,nevertheless, it may be desirable, where the coat is made from certainkinds of cloth, to provide means for assisting 'the plaits in theirclosing action and such means is illustrated in Figs. '5 and G of thedrawings. In these figures the plaits are indicated by the numeral 9 andthe stitches corresponding to the stitches 7 and 8 are indicatedrespectively by the numerals 10 and 1l. In these gures the nuplaits 9and the stitches l() pass through this n elastic tape as well as throughthe inner plies of the plaits and the body of the cloth..

ne ends of the tape 12 are secured by stitches 13 to the body of thecloth as shown in said figures and it will be understood that in thisform of the invention when the plaits are open and. are subse uentlypermitted to close, the contraction o the elastic tape l2 will assistthem` in their closing action.

It will be understood, of course, that the plaits may have lines ofstitching running completely through their edges or they may be blindstitched.

Having thus described the invention, what isclaimed as new is: j

l. A garment having a portion provided with a plurality of plaits eachhaving. an inner ply and an outer ply, the plaits being free to openwhen the said portion of the garment is subjected to stretching strain,the plies of each plait being united near their fold line by a line ofstitching, all of the said outer plies and all of the said inner pliesbeing arranged to respectively assume corresponding angles in all openpositions of the plaits, all of theplaits having their free edgeportions presented in the same general direction. I

2. A garment having a plurality of plaitsl formed therein, the inner andouter plies of each plait being united along a line adjacent the foldforming the plait and the plaits being arranged to lie normally againstthe inner side of the body portion of the garment in which they areformed, the inner ply of each plait being united to the body portion ofthe garment along a line adjacent the line of juncture of the said plywith the said body portion of the garment, and an elastic strap securedat its ends to the said body portion of the garment at the opposite endsof the series of plaits and at intermediate points secured to the bodyportion of the garment substantially at the lines of juncture of theinner plies of the plaits therewith.

In testimony whereof I ailiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEVERETT L. INMAN. [1.. s.]

